Book Review: Black-Owned

Char Adams, Black-owned: the revolutionary life of the Black bookstore. New York: Tiny Reparations Books, 2025.  ISBN: 9780593474235.

Genre: business, history, nonfiction

Subgenre: African American and Black Studies

Format: Hardback

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College

 

The author has written a well-researched and readable history of Black bookstores in the United States. The story begins with the first Black-owned bookstore, which opened in New York in 1834. From there the story moves to the 20th century and on to the 21st century into today. Some of these stores were owned by activists and fostered revolutionaries and political activities. Others wanted to run a book business. Often these owners faced obstacles, racism, discrimination, violence, and harassment from the government, especially the FBI. 

The book is arranged as follows: 

• Introduction.
• Ten chapters.
• Conclusion.
• Books Black Booksellers Want Everyone to Read. A list of 10 books they want you to read. From their list I've read two: Beloved and Their Eyes Were Watching God. 
• Black-Owned Bookstores in the US by State. As of this book, Kentucky does not have one (or at least one that made the list). 

This is a history of Black people, the communities the stores served, sellers, traders, publishers, literacy, and more. The narrative draws you right in. I just kept on reading. The are moving moments. Lessons to be learned. We learn about the essential role that Black bookstores play in their communities promoting reading, culture, and literacy. In addition, it is a well researched book featuring quotes and conversations with many of the book traders who made the history. 

This is a history that has been overdue, and the author finally wrote it and shared it with the world. It's an interesting book, easy to read, and everyone should be reading it. It's not just a history of bookstores. It's a part of U.S. history that was known in bits and pieces here or there by a few, mostly those who lived it. The author does an excellent job of bringing it all together. 

This is a book I recommend for all libraries, public and academic. 

5 out of 5 stars. 

 

Additional reading notes:  

In the introduction the author describes how she went about interviewing people, researching, and then writing the book. What she found when she started out: 

"Most of what been written about Black bookstores is strewn across old, defunct newspapers, obscure books, journals, and government documents. All of them were difficult to find. There was no singular place to learn all I wanted to know about them. I was shocked to find that no complete book existed about Black bookstores' history, struggle, and cultural impact" (2) 

 

Significance of Black bookstores: 

"To understand the Black social and political movements that have shaped our history, we must understand the role Black bookstores have played in them-- as well as the role they continue to play as we press forward into a new and uncertain future" (4). 

 

Mulzac's Liberation Bookstore had a section that more bookstores and libraries need to have: a "Know Your Enemy" section: 

". . .which Mulzac always kept up to date, had information on current events like the Watergate scandal" (61). 

The store's motto: 

"If you don't know, learn. If you know, teach" (61).  

 

It was about more than just selling books, for example: 

"Black students often turned to bookshops like Mulzac's to supplement their formal education through the shop's community programs, educational events, author talks, and debates. People of African descent could go to Black bookstores for the instruction and education they couldn't find in formal higher education" (67).

We may often take programs in Ethnic Studies for granted, but back then such programs did not exist and/or were fighting for their place in academia. And now with the current regime they are fighting for their academic lives again. 

 

Quote to remember: 

"Stop begging someone else to do for you what you should be doing for yourself" -- Ed Vaughn, activist and owner of Vaughn's Books. 

 

A pattern in Black America, one the Black bookstore faced: 

"This was a familiar pattern in Black America: when an aspect of Black culture became popular, large companies would capitalize on the market. With few resources to fight back, Black small business owners faltered under the disadvantage" (149). 

 

Boycott Note: This book is published by an imprint of Penguin Random House (PRH), and so it falls under my publishers' against Internet Archive boycott. However, I am exercising the library exception to the boycott in order to read it since my own library acquired it. Thus I am writing my full review here, and I will post a short review on our library blog. After that, I am not promoting it actively any further.  

 

 

 

 

Book Review: We Own This City

Justin Fenton, We Own This City: a True Story of Crime, Cops, and Corruption. New York: Random House, 2021.  ISBN: 9780593133668.

 

Genre: nonfiction

Subgenre: true crime, police, corruption, Baltimore City

Format: hardcover

Source: Berea branch of the Madison County (KY) Public Library

 

 

This book tells the story in gory details of one of the largest police corruption and crime scandals of the 21st century. Baltimore Police Department Sergeant Wayne Jenkins and his elite Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) were hailed as heroes for, supposedly, helping get illegal guns and drugs off Baltimore streets. In reality, Jenkins and his crew were nothing more than thugs and thieves with badges who robbed people, stole drugs from drug dealers, which they then resold for profit, planted fake evidence to send innocent people to jail, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. For years, they committed their crimes with impunity, protected by neglectful and at times incompetent supervisors who either should have known better or just turned a blind eye. 

The author brings together extensive research, interviews, court documents, video footage to present the narrative of the rise and fall of the elite GTTF. What police commanders saw as good, yet aggressive, police work turned out to be a unit of thugs and thieves using their badges to do extortion, robberies, theft, and many other crimes. Using their badges, they basically did racial profiling as well as targeting drug dealers and innocent people alike for one main reason: money and greed. The author takes us through GTTF's rise, the investigations on the unit, and the eventual capture and convictions. By the way, a large part of the crimes happened during the Freddie Gray case and trials. 

For the most part, the author presents an interesting and compelling narrative. However, somewhere around 2/3 into the book it can get a bit overwhelming. The author catalogs crime after crime after crime done by the GTTF, and we have to wonder just how low and evil they can go. Turns out very low and very evil. After a while, it gets tiring to read crime after crime. True, they eventually get caught, but it is an arduous journey. The chapters on Freddie Gray were hard to read because Jenkins, while pretending to be a hero during the riots at the time, was really stealing drugs looted from a pharmacy to resell. If you are a decent human being, this book should make you angry. 

The sad part is that, while the thieves eventually get caught and convicted, you get a feeling of hopelessness. Given how the system is structured where the cops do "own this city," it's a matter of time until another group of rogue cops takes the place of Jenkins's crew. It's a terrifying story overall. Yes, it is well researched and written. No, this is not an optimistic book. It's documenting outrageous crimes, and leave us with the feeling that such crimes are not over. 

Overall, a good and well written book, but also horrifying and depressing at times. If readers need convincing that the phrase "all cops are bastards" is true, this book will do it. Because it was not just Jenkins and company. It was their supervisors who either should have known or turned a blind eye. It was the higher ups including deputy police commissioners Jenkins basically had in his pocket. It was colleagues who saw the signs and chose silence. This book is an indictment not just on the Baltimore Police Department but of policing at larage. 

I liked it, but it was a tough read. 

3 out of 5 stars. 

 

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On a side note, this is the second recent book on this topic. Previous to this was I Got a Monster: the Rise and Fall of America's Most Corrupt Police Squad.  The public library also had this one, and I thought about reading it. Seeing Fenton's book was more recent, that's what I read. 

 

What is often is often define as "good" police work: 

 

"In the tool kit of a police officer, such 'measurables' are field interviews, car stops, and use of any violation of the law to try to flip people for information. The more people you make contact with, the more chances to squeeze someone. This is considered good police work, and there are countless examples of it leading to a break in a case. But in hyperpoliced areas it also promotes harassment and profiling, and when people are scared of police every interaction has the potential to combust" (62). 

Jenkins and his crew, like many police officers in Baltimore and nationally, took the hyperpolicing and profiling into overdrive both to appear productive to their superiors as well as to further their own greed and crimes. 

Detective Maurice Ward justifies his crimes with one of the oldest excuses: everyone else was doing it: 

"I can say that I stole money before Jenkins not because I was poor, struggling-- just because everybody else was doing it and I want to feel accepted and trusted to get into a specialized unit and out of patrol. To go from patrol to any specialized unit, it's  not how qualified you are, it's can you be trusted and who you know. There's a lot of men and women in patrol who deserve a spot in drugs, shootings, and other divisions, but if you don't know somebody, you're stuck. The trust factor comes in knowing about extra overtime, witnessing police brutality, or working in the 'gray area'" (87).

In essence, cops are another boys' fraternity (they are mostly male) and trust is given to those willing to commit crimes too, turn a blind eye where needed, and knowing when to keep their mouths shut. (See also the 2 rules from the film Goodfellas: "Never rat out on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut). 

 

The term "monster" defined: 

 

"Monster was Jenkins's term for the heavyweight dealers, the kind who trafficked in brick-shaped kilogram packages worth tens of thousands of dollars apiece. A dealer at that level was likely to have a fortune in money and drugs at home-- wads of bills and stacks of powder tucked away in ceiling cavities, under mattresses, and in basement vaults" (128). 

Those were the big dealers Jenkins and his crew sought to rip off, steal their money, and resell their drugs to make even more money. 

 

The BPD was a corrupt, bullying, racist clusterfuck, and that was not including their other crimes and thefts. In August 10, 2016, the U.S. Justice Department delivered their report on BPD civil rights violations after Freddie Gray's death. This includes: 

"The report did find that the BPD had problems with unconstitutional stops and searches, disproportionately targeting Black people with minimal supervision and accountability" (165). 

and. . . 

"From the department's outdated technology, to its mishandling of sexual assault cases, to officers' excessive force and First Amendment violations, the report painted a picture of an agency in disarray, one that was regularly trampling on the rights of its city residents" (166). 

By the way, you can find the press release of the report and the report itself online at the Department of Justice website.

Jenkins and his crew got a lot of praise for being oh so productive in making arrests and taking guns off streets. The reality was that the crew were mostly hype, and superiors never checked the reality nor really cared to know: 

"No one seemed to care much about how the cases were faring in court: From 2012 to 2016, 40 percent of Jenkins's gun cases were dropped by prosecutors, higher than the department average, even as he was winning praise for his skill. Despite police and prosecutors' stated priority of holding people caught carrying guns accountable, officials would later acknowledge that no one was circling back to check or improve the outcomes" (174). 

Oh, and in case things like illegal searches and robbery were not enough: 

"In addition to the illegal searches, extortion, and robberies, federal investigators had uncovered the massive overtime theft committed by the officers" (190). 

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Book qualifies for this 2021 Reading Challenge:

Booknote: Spending the Holidays With People I Want to Punch in the Throat

Jen Mann, Spending the Holidays with People I Want to Punch in the Throat: Yuletide Yahoos, Ho-Ho Humblebraggers, and Other Seasonal Scourges. New York: Random House, 2015. ISBN: 9781101922903

Genre: humor
Subgenre: memoir, holidays
Format: electronic audiobook
Source: Overdrive system via the Madison County (KY) Public Library

I am not sure why I picked up this book since I did not really like her other book. At the time, I was just looking for an easy audiobook read on Overdrive, so I took a chance. This was not a good idea. The humor is not really that good, and at times it is cringe inducing. Let me jot down some highlights to help readers decide if they want to read this or not.

At the beginning, the author emphasizes these are her stories and this is how she remembered things. If you remember things differently, well, go write your own book. She usually uses that line in her books (you can also find in her other book which I have reviewed. See link above). As for the holidays, she states that she may find something she likes about the holidays. However, that  is not this book. It may be her next book. However, I probably will not find out if that is the case since I have no intention to pick up any other of her books if she writes any new ones. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I am not giving her another chance.

Part of the book presents a list of things she hates about the holidays:

• One thing I do wonder about: when the fuck did the Easter Bunny start bringing presents? It must be a recent shit because I sure as hell never saw it growing up nor anyone I knew did it.
• Pumpkin flavored anything. To be honest, this gripe feels like a pretty easy thing to hate, low hanging fruit. Just about every grumpy holiday list has this.
• Drunken dads taking the kids out for Trick or Treat pulling a wagon of beer behind them. This is a thing? I must have lived in a less drunken neighborhood. 
• She hates hopping for the gifts. She falls in the buy them a gift card and  get it over with, preferably Amazon or Target gift card. Her family may not like it or think it fun, but hey, give  her a gift card anytime. Me? I am happy to take the gift card, or better yet, the cash. 
•  The events. This may be a case of overbooking, or I am just not social enough. She says she is booked right at Halloween and all through the season, but by Valentine's Day, no one wants to see her again til next Halloween. As I said, I do not have this problem, and this seems more like a First World Problem to me, but then again, I am not the most social person. Additionally, I  have learned to value quiet, peace, and privacy over spending holidays with people I can barely stand.
•  The food. This I mainly have a love/hate relationship. Small things like pumpkin pie I like, but for the  most part, I do not give a shit about the Thanksgiving menu. In fact, in our house we go out of our way to make anything not "traditional." One year we made lasagna and Italian fare, next it was Puerto Rican food, year after that tacos and Mexican. Honestly, why Americans insist in their bland, tasteless fare is beyond me.

Moving  along, the Neon Virgin Chapter just devolved into a teen angst drama performance. It is cringe-worthy, and you probably are better off skipping it. By the way, do not steal your parents' credit card no matter how cool you think it will be to spend money you do not have without the "parental units" knowing. Obviously these kids were not raised right. But this was before electronics for credit cards, so took a good while for parents to get a bill on a credit card via snail mail.

Overall, much  of the book boils down to old, crappy stories of the author's teen years worrying more about being cool and fussing, often ungrateful like many teens tend to do. The fact she often reads this with a whiny teen-like voice does not exactly help the narrative, and it turns out to be more annoying than amusing. Like her other book, how the hell a publisher approved this is beyond me. Funny is not an adjective I would use to describe this author nor her material.

Bottom line: 1 out of 5 stars, barely. It is as bad if not worse than her other books. Why I picked this up beyond me.

Book Review: Kitchen Confidential

Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. New York: Random House Audio, 2007. ISBN: 9780307933386.

Genre: nonfiction
Subgenre: cookery, food, biography, celebrity chefs
Format: audiobook
Source: Overdrive via my local public library, Madison County (KY) Public Library.

I have read some of Anthony Bourdain's later writings, such as  The Nasty Bits (link to my review). I kept hearing that I needed to read Kitchen Confidential, so when I saw my library's Overdrive system had it on audio, I took the chance. Anthony Bourdain reads the book. Note also that this is an unabridged edition. For me, I tend to prefer when an author reads their own book, assuming they have a good reading voice and their personality comes across in the reading. If you have watched Bourdain on television, then you are familiar with his narrative style, and you find that in this book.

I am going to note that this was written before he became the TV traveler personality he is now that does not really cook anymore. Heck, in a later episode of "No Reservations" when he cooked in some other celebrity chef's kitchen, he admitted how out of shape he was in terms of pulling a full shift. So in a way this is him before he really hit it big. Interesting that he says he hopes to be cooking and working after the book. He is working now well after the book, but I am betting he is not cooking as much these days.

He starts by saying he will tell you of the life as he has seen it, and while he has no intention to skewer the more famous, he will if he gets the chance. And yes, horror stories will be included too. Just remember not to order the fish on a Monday and learn not to order well done steak.

His first job was as dishwasher, because, like many young people, he needed some spending money. Plus, like many young men, he needed money for the girlfriend; yes, women can be expensive at times. On a side note, his childhood description of privation of good food as the moment of epiphany is well written and very evocative. He gets to work, acts like a jerk, gets humbled, then strives to do better and makes right, and in the process learns all the secrets, some of which he tells us in this book.

Bourdain does have a good evocative voice, and his story of youth does  have some very moving moments. That is a strength of the book. In addition, there are some horror stories and revelations, such that for some readers they may seriously reconsider if they want to eat out or not again. However, Bourdain would argue that you need some common sense, and in some cases, especially when you travel, taking the risk on some hole in the wall place that does not look "too sanitary" may be well worth a little food sickness the next day. Your mileage may vary.

Overall, I really liked the book, and I did enjoy having him read it to me.

4 out of 5 stars.

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Additional reading notes:

• CIA (Culinary Institute of America) in the 70s was very different than the elite institution it is  now.  
• Who actually cooks the food?  Not the chef. Most likely young, ambitious, mercenary, and very likely not American (migrants). The cooks may still be foreign, but not as exploited (or as illegal). It is a competitive field, and now (at least in the quality places), they do get paid well for their work. Many are still Ecuadorian. 
• As many misfits and outlaws and prima donnas cooking can attract, character still counts. You can teach someone to cook; you cannot teach them character. This is applicable to many other career paths. 
• Here is why you don't order fish on Mondays. It is likely to be at least four days old. They got it the previous week, and if they still have fish on Monday, it means that fish has sat around all weekend. 
• Not only is Monday fish bad, mussels can be worse unless you know exactly where and when they got them, their freshness. Otherwise, food poisoning is likely.
• Cooks also hate brunch. Often, the food is made by whoever is available; the best cooks were on Friday and Saturday night; they are not getting up on Sunday, so it is the second string, or where they let the dishwasher start to learn his cooking chops. Not reassuring if you add the leftovers they use to make the brunch.
• I just thought this was a really good line from the book: Vegetarians and their Hezbollah branch the Vegans. (Bourdain's disdain of vegetarians and vegans is well known).
• Rotation of food is key. If the place is busy, and a particular food item flies out constantly, it is probably OK to eat since they sell a lot, they rotate a lot. If it is a slow place with a big overdone menu, forget ordering that fancy item; it has sat there for ages before you order it. Also, keep an eye on the waiter, he knows. More reason to be polite to the waiter. A waiter that likes you may be helpful and warn you of a bad fish. However, if he is under orders, well, his body language can still be a tell. 
• Best times to eat then: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, when the cooks have had fresh delivery and time to be creative versus weekends when they rush, know it is just tourists they will never see again, and to be honest, could not care less about more than to turn those tables. This is why on rare times the Better Half and I go out to a nice place, we often do it in the middle of the week. Besides, the place is often glad to see you (since it is slow), so the service also tends to be attentive and more relaxed.
• As for germs, a bit of germs won't kill you, but still avoid places of absolute filth. Much of his point is have some common sense, and be attentive. 
• An interesting lesson. Sometimes it is  good to have enemies, even if you do not know who they are. It is  a sign you are important.  

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This book qualifies for the following 2017 Reading  Challenges: